


Reverie (In the Rain)

by imaginentertain



Category: Days of Our Lives
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-02
Updated: 2013-11-02
Packaged: 2017-12-31 06:50:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1028586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imaginentertain/pseuds/imaginentertain
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arianna Grace has things she loves and things she hates.  She loves music and she hates storms.  This is a night when the two come together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reverie (In the Rain)

Arianna Grace is a very determined young girl. She knows what she likes and what she doesn't, and after seven years they have learned to just go with it.

It's easier.

She likes peas, but only when they're covered with gravy. ("So they stick together, Daddy," she says as if it were obvious.)

She likes vanilla ice cream and she likes chocolate ice cream, but she doesn't like them served up together. ("They're not the same mixed together, Sonny," she explains patiently.)

She doesn't like mashed potato, but she'll eat all the fries from your plate if you don't keep an eye on her. She likes music but not musicals. She likes teddy bears but not dolls. She only likes dresses that are blue like her daddy's eyes, and pants that brown like Sonny's. She hates wearing anything on her feet and will happily walk everywhere barefoot if she could. (Sandals are her compromise. "My toes want to be free," she explains. )

*

As she's gotten older she's changed so much, started to like things she didn't before and gone off things she loved. But one thing hasn't changed, not since she was a baby screaming the place down one night.

She hates, hates, _hates_ it when there's a storm at night.

*

Will switched off the news report and sighed, glancing out of the window as the soft _tap tap tap_ that had been intermittent all evening started to pick up. The storm wasn't going to miss them and that meant that in about half an hour he was going to have a very scared little girl clinging to his side and refusing to go back to bed unless he came too.

Not for the first time Will wished that Sonny wasn't working tonight. He was so much better at things like this.

Getting up from the couch he started towards the bedrooms, wondering if he should just go in now and be there when that first flash of lightning or thunder woke her up. But as always, Sonny's voice rang clear in his mind.

_"If you're there the second she wakes then she won't ever learn. Remember when we did that whole controlled crying thing? She'll be fine, it's a phase."_

Despite all that she was still his little girl and she was always going to be his little girl and he was never going to be able to just sit back while she was upset or scared.

He stopped, trying to decide what he should do when his fingers rested on the nearest surface. It took him a moment to realise that it was the piano Sonny had bought him for his last birthday.

It was the most decadent thing in their home, seemingly oversized for their living area, but Sonny had insisted that Will wasn't going to let his musical talents go to waste. Plus he could teach Arianna as she grew up; music helped children develop. Having a piano would allow Will to do that.

As well as entertain Sonny on demand of course.

Arianna loved her music, and more often than not it was a song that lulled her to sleep when she was ill or tired or—

Before Will knew it he'd sat down on the stool and lifted the lid, his fingers quickly finding the keys. As the sound of the rain picked up against the window [he started to press the notes](https://soundcloud.com/eric-lee-leblanc/reverie-in-the-rain), letting them fill the space.

The first bars were in time with the first flash of light and the rumble that wasn't far behind. Will didn't stop though, his fingers found the keys from the tune almost long forgotten. He heard a door open but he paid it little heed; Arianna was beside him soon enough, taking her usual seat beside him on the stool.

Neither of them said anything for a while as Will continued to play, not even missing a note when he felt her body leaning up against his for comfort, closeness.

"There's violins in the original tune," he said quietly.

"Can I play the violin one day?" Arianna asked.

"If you want."

"Then we can play this together."

"I'd love that," Will said, his fingers still on the keys. The tempo slowed as he brought the song to an end, his right hand working the same few keys. Arianna's hand was over his for a moment, feeling out the notes like she did every lesson. "Do you wanna play?"

"I can't play that," she said.

"You could."

"Too hard."

"So we'll practice."

*

So they did.

*

Sonny ran from the car to the door, holding his jacket over his head as best he could. As soon as the storm had started he'd known exactly what would have gone on at home and all he wanted to do was be back there.

He managed to get his keys into the lock but it wasn't until he had the door open that he finally realised that he'd been hearing music for a while now. As quietly as he could he closed the door behind him and watched father and daughter at the piano. Arianna had a few notes to herself and her small hands and fingers were just about keeping up with Will's more practiced ones. The beat was off a little but it was still a beautiful piece.

Digging his cell from his pocket he quickly turned on the video and hit record, trying not to let his hands shake too much so as to ruin the picture. He stood there until they finished the song, at which point Arianna turned a little on her seat and noticed him in the corner of her eye.

*

Will found the song on YouTube, setting it to play on a loop at a quiet volume while Sonny tucked Arianna back into bed.

Once she was under the covers with her beloved teddy bear sat, keeping watch as he always had to, Will and Sonny swapped places; Sonny moved to the doorway to watch the two of them for a moment.

He loved moments like this, just watching them. He knew Will had moments of his own, watching Sonny with the child who was just as much his little girl as she was Will's.

With the music just loud enough to counter the sound of the rain and the odd rumble of thunder she will seem much happier and they would be able to leave her with much less fuss than they'd had before. Sonny would show Will the video a little later on that night as they shared a beer. He would whisper mutterings of pride and love as they crawled into bed and found each other under the covers. They would lie there and listen to the storm dissipate into rain until they fell asleep. They would wake to the sounds of Arianna trying to play the whole song herself and they would spend their entire weekend trying to teach her.

That's what will happen.

But right now Arianna has something new she likes and she hates storms a little less, and her daddy and Sonny love her that little bit more. ("Like we do every day," they tell her. "We all love each other more and more every day." When five-year old Arianna worried that your heart couldn't hold that much love, they had smiled at each other and grasped hands across the table. "It can, I promise you. It can hold all the love in the world.")


End file.
